One of the lesser remembered but quite active child actors during the
30s and 40s was Jackie Moran. Born in 1923, he was a tyke model placed
into films as a teen, often cast as a feisty street orphan. David O.
Selznick took an interest in the gangly, fair-haired lad and cast him
as Huckleberry Finn in Die Abenteuer von Tom Sawyer und Huckleberry Finn (1938) and in Als du Abschied nahmst (1944), not to mention a bit
part in his epic classic Vom Winde verweht (1939). Jackie made a solid appearance in the
Buck Rogers (1939) serial in which he played young Buddy, who co-piloted the giant
dirigible along with Buster Crabbe's titular hero. In the 40s Jackie
played in a number of youth-oriented programmers, none particularly
memorable, though he did create the role of teenager Jimmy Forrest in a
mildly popular series of be-bop musical comedy romps that included
Junior Prom (1946), Freddie Steps Out (1946), and High School Hero (1946). He retired from acting in 1947 and
became interested in screen writing and public relations work. He died
at 67 of cancer in 1990.
